Christie’s Indian Sale Sets Record with $4.4m Gaitonde as Overseas Buyers Show Up in Mumbai

Christie’s is finding success in Indian art by holding sales in Mumbai but the buyers are coming from out of country with some flying to India from Philadelphia and California to participate:

An oil painting by Indian artist Vasudeo S. Gaitonde on Tuesday fetched $4.4 million, the largest amount ever for an Indian painting sold at auction.

The 1995 art work, “Untitled,” sold by Christie’s at a sale in Mumbai, broke the previous record set by a Francis Newton Souza piece, which sold for $4.01 million in New York earlier this year, the London-based auction house said.

Christie’s sale Tuesday was its third in India and raised a total of $14.7 million, which the auction house said was its highest total it had made through a sale there so far.

The buyer of Tuesday’s Gaitonde was an “international collector,” based outside of the country who isn’t of Indian origin, William Robinson, head of international world art, said. Mr. Robinson added that it was the third year running that the top lot at Christie’s auction in India was bought from outside the country.